Here's a confession most business owners wouldn't put on their own blog: a lot of the videos of me on this page aren't really me. They're AI. We use a tool called HeyGen. It learned my face and my voice from a recording, and now it reads scripts I write. I'm telling you that plainly because you deserve to know, and because making those videos taught me the thing every family with an aging parent needs to hear right now.
We make AI videos of me for this page. That's exactly how I know how real they look.
Now picture your mom's phone ringing on a Tuesday night. It's her grandson's voice, and he's crying. He's been in a wreck, or he's been arrested, or he's somewhere he shouldn't be and he's scared. He needs money tonight, and please, please don't tell his mom. Then a calm stranger takes the phone, a lawyer or an officer, and explains exactly how to send it.
Your mom isn't gullible. She's loving. And the voice on that phone doesn't have to sound like somebody pretending to be her grandson anymore. With the tools that exist today, it can sound like him.
Yesterday was National Grandparents Day. Plenty of families marked it by posting a video of the grandkids, and there's nothing wrong with that. But a clip that makes your mom smile is also the raw material this scam runs on. The fix doesn't cost a dime, it takes about ten minutes, and the FBI has already told you what it is. Your family needs a safe word, and your parent needs to know exactly what to do with it.
What the FBI and FTC have actually put in writing
There's a lot of scary noise about AI scams online, so let's stay with what federal agencies have published.
The FBI's 2025 IC3 Annual Report, from its Internet Crime Complaint Center, carries a full section on artificial intelligence. IC3 received more than 22,000 complaints in 2025 that reported AI-related information, with adjusted losses over $893 million.
That section describes the scam this post is about. The FBI groups grandparent scams, which it also calls distress scams, with confidence fraud, and it describes voice cloning technology being used to mimic the sound of a loved one in distress. Victims reported more than $5 million in losses to distress scams in 2025, and the FBI says the scam is evolving to mimic other family members and close friends in different kinds of emergencies.
Now look at the people you're trying to protect. According to the same report, Americans 60 and older filed 201,266 complaints in 2025, up 37% from 2024, and reported $7.748 billion in losses, up 59%. The average reported loss was $38,500. Complaints the FBI tagged as AI-related, across every kind of scam and not just phone calls, came to 3,143 from people 60 and older, with $352,496,231 in losses.
Closer to home, North Carolina logged 5,942 complaints from people 60 and older, the ninth most of any state, and $164,214,173 in reported losses.
Keep one thing in mind with every one of those numbers: they only count the people who reported. Plenty of families never do, because they're embarrassed, or because the money's gone and filing a report feels pointless.
The FBI's advice is on the record, too. In a December 3, 2024 public service announcement (I-120324-PSA), the FBI warned that criminals generate short audio clips containing a loved one's voice to impersonate a close relative in a crisis, asking for immediate financial help or demanding a ransom. Its first tip to the public: "Create a secret word or phrase with your family to verify their identity."
The Federal Trade Commission warned families about the same scheme in a March 20, 2023 consumer alert. The FTC explained that a scammer needs only a short audio clip of your family member's voice, which could come from content posted online, and a voice-cloning program. Its advice: call the person who supposedly contacted you, using a phone number you know is theirs, and if you can't reach them, get in touch through another family member or their friends.
The voice is the new part. The playbook isn't.
Grandparent scams aren't new. The FBI files them under confidence fraud, and among people 60 and older, that category drew 10,188 complaints and $584,032,745 in reported losses in 2025. That figure includes romance scams too, so don't read it as the grandparent scam alone. What's new is how convincing the voice can be.
So your family's defense can't rest on "I'd know my own grandson's voice." Maybe you would have, a few years ago. The honest answer now is maybe not, and that's not a failing on anybody's part. It's the technology.
Here's the good news. The voice is the only part that changed. The playbook underneath it runs the same way every time, and the playbook is what you can teach.
The three tells, whether it's a voice or a video
Every one of these calls leans on the same three things:
- Someone you love, in trouble, right now. A wreck, an arrest, a hospital, a kidnapping. The emergency is built to shut off the part of your brain that asks questions.
- Urgency and secrecy. "I need it in the next hour." "Don't tell Mom." The secrecy isn't about embarrassment. It's there to stop your parent from making the one phone call that ends the scam.
- Money that's hard to trace. The FTC says it plainly: if the caller says to wire money, send cryptocurrency, or buy gift cards and give them the card numbers and PINs, those could be signs of a scam.
Once your parent can name those three out loud, the voice stops mattering. A perfect copy of your son's voice asking for gift cards within the hour is still a request for gift cards within the hour.
Why urgency is the tell
I spent more than eight years buying houses from families in transition before I walked away from that side of the table. That's not a scam, and most buyers aren't scammers. But it taught me what pressure does to a good decision. The worst decisions I watched families make almost always had one thing in common: somebody convinced them it had to happen today.
Real emergencies almost always have two minutes to spare. A grandson who's really in trouble can wait while his grandmother calls his cell phone. A lawyer who's really handling a case can take a callback at the office number. Anybody who tells your parent there's no time to check has just told you everything you need to know about the call.
That's the goal here. Not a parent who's afraid of the phone, but a parent who's calm on the phone, because she already knows her move. And not an adult child who lies awake worrying about the call that might come, but one who handled it on a Sunday afternoon and can stop carrying it.
The scam runs both directions
Here's the part most families miss. The call doesn't only run toward your parent. The FBI's report says these scams are evolving to mimic other family members and close friends, and the FBI's warning covers anyone impersonating a close relative in a crisis. That includes a copy of your dad's voice calling you.
If your dad has ever been in a church video posted online, or a birthday toast somebody shared, there may be a recording of his voice out there. The safe word protects the whole family, in both directions. You ask him for it, and he asks you.
What to do this week
1. Pick the safe word together
Sit down with your parent this week, in person or on a call you both started. Choose a word or short phrase that nobody could look up. That rules out pet names, birthdays, street names, the old high school, favorite teams, and anything that's ever been posted online. A short, odd phrase beats a single word. "Blue canoe at the lake" is better than the name of the family dog.
2. Practice it once, out loud
A safe word nobody remembers under stress won't help. So role-play it. You call your mom, pretend to be in trouble, and she asks for the word. It'll feel silly for about thirty seconds, and that's the point. The first time she asks for it shouldn't be the night it matters.
3. Agree on the hang-up rule
Make this the family rule: if anyone calls in a panic asking for money, you hang up and call back on the number you already have saved. Never the number that called you, and never a number the caller gives you. That's the FTC's advice, and it works even on the night someone forgets the safe word. If your parent can't reach the person, the FTC says to try another family member or their friends.
4. Put the three tells where your parent will see them
Write them on an index card by the phone or on the fridge: someone I love in trouble right now, don't tell anyone, send money a strange way. If all three show up in one call, hang up and call family.
5. Shrink the raw material
You don't have to take the family off the internet. The FBI's same announcement suggests limiting online content of your image or voice, making social media accounts private, and keeping followers to people you know. Look at who can actually see the grandkids' videos, and tighten it where you can.
6. If a call already happened, report it
If money already moved, call the bank or card company right away, then file a complaint with the FBI at ic3.gov. Every number in this post exists because somebody reported. Reporting isn't admitting you were foolish. It's how the next family gets warned. And tell the rest of your family, because embarrassment is exactly what these scams count on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an AI voice clone scam?
It's a phone scam where a criminal uses artificial intelligence to copy the voice of someone you love and fake an emergency. The FBI warned in a December 2024 public service announcement that criminals generate short audio clips of a loved one's voice to impersonate a close relative in a crisis and ask for immediate money or a ransom. The FBI's 2025 IC3 Annual Report calls these distress scams and groups them with grandparent scams.
How do I set up a family safe word?
Pick a word or short phrase together that nobody could research: no pet names, birthdays, street names, teams, or anything that's ever been posted online. The FBI recommends that families create a secret word or phrase to verify identity. Then practice it once out loud, so your parent actually remembers to ask for it during a frightening call.
How much money have older adults lost to AI scams?
According to the FBI's 2025 IC3 Annual Report, people 60 and older filed 3,143 complaints tagged as AI-related in 2025, with $352,496,231 in reported losses. Across all scams, people 60 and older reported $7.748 billion in losses, with an average reported loss of $38,500. Those figures only count people who filed a report.
What should my parent do if a grandchild calls in a panic asking for money?
Hang up and call the grandchild back on a number already known to be theirs, which is the Federal Trade Commission's advice. If the grandchild can't be reached, try another family member or friend. The FTC warns that requests to wire money, send cryptocurrency, or buy gift cards and share the numbers and PINs could be signs of a scam.
How much of a recording does a scammer need to clone a voice?
The FTC says a scammer needs only a short audio clip of your family member's voice, which could come from content posted online, plus a voice-cloning program. That's why limiting who can see family videos and setting up a safe word both matter.
About Ryan Riggins
Ryan Riggins is a senior transition advisor and former house flipper. After 8+ years buying homes from families in transition, he walked away from the cash-buyer side to help families avoid the $50K mistakes he used to profit from. Based in Greensboro, NC. NC Real Estate License #361546, eXp Realty. Founder of Riggins Strategic Solutions and the Hammock365 app.
Related reading: What the Justice Department's elder fraud report says, and why the scam conversation with your parents should happen before the call lands: rigginsstrategicsolutions.com/blog/doj-2025-annual-report-elder-fraud-2-billion-2024
Want a step-by-step guide? The Senior Transition Blueprint is free, all 20 modules and 69 tools: rigginsstrategicsolutions.com/the-blueprint
Not sure where your family stands? The free Family Readiness Score takes five minutes and shows the gaps across the home, the money, the legal documents, care, and family alignment: rigginsstrategicsolutions.com/tools/family-readiness-score
Need a personalized plan? The Senior Transition Roadmap is free, by application. It adds calls with Ryan and 90 days of email support: rigginsstrategicsolutions.com/the-roadmap
Selling a parent's home? Ryan finds and vets the right local agent for your situation and stays in your corner on the whole sale, at no added cost to your family: rigginsstrategicsolutions.com/in-your-corner
Coordinate the family in one place. Hammock365 keeps daily check-ins, medications, and documents where the whole family can see them: hammock365.com
Sources
All sources checked September 14, 2026.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report: the artificial intelligence section (22,364 complaints, $893,346,472 in adjusted losses, distress scams using voice cloning, more than $5 million in 2025 distress scam losses), the 60+ elder fraud section (201,266 complaints, $7.748 billion, $38,500 average loss, AI-related 3,143 complaints and $352,496,231, Confidence/Romance 10,188 complaints and $584,032,745), state statistics for 60+ (North Carolina 5,942 complaints and $164,214,173), and the Confidence/Romance definition that includes the Grandparent's Scheme. https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf
- Federal Bureau of Investigation, Public Service Announcement I-120324-PSA, Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud, December 3, 2024: AI-generated audio of a loved one's voice, and the secret word or phrase recommendation. https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA241203
- Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Alert, Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes, March 20, 2023: short audio clips, calling back on a known number, and wire, cryptocurrency, and gift card warning signs. https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/03/scammers-use-ai-enhance-their-family-emergency-schemes
- 36 U.S.C. 125, National Grandparents Day, the first Sunday in September after Labor Day. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title36-section125&num=0&edition=prelim
